1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the area of Internet communications. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for configurable value-added network switching and object routing.
2. Background of the Invention
With the Internet and the World Wide Web (“the Web”) evolving rapidly as a viable consumer medium for electronic commerce, new on-line services are emerging to fill the needs of on-line users. An Internet user today can browse on the Web via the use of a Web browser. Web browsers are software interfaces that run on Web clients to allow access to Web servers via a simple user interface. A Web user's capabilities today from a Web browser are, however, extremely limited. The user can perform one-way, browse-only interactions. Additionally, the user has limited “deferred” transactional capabilities, namely electronic mail (e-mail) capabilities. E-mail capabilities are referred to as “deferred transactions” because the consumer's request is not processed until the e-mail is received, read, and the person or system reading the e-mail executes the transaction. This transaction is thus not performed in real-time.
FIG. 1A illustrates typical user interactions on the Web today. User 100 sends out a request from Web browser 102 in the form of a universal resource locator (URL) 101 in the following manner: http://www.car.com. URL 101 is processed by Web browser 102 that determines the URL corresponds to car dealer Web page 105, on car dealer Web server 104. Web browser 102 then establishes browse link 103 to car dealer Web page 105. User 100 can browse Web page 105 and select “hot links” to jump to other locations in Web page 105, or to move to other Web pages on the Web. This interaction is typically a browse-only interaction. Under limited circumstances, the user may be able to fill out a form on car dealer Web page 105, and e-mail the form to car dealer Web server 104. This interaction is still strictly a one-way browse mode communications link, with the e-mail providing limited, deferred transactional capabilities.
Under limited circumstances, a user may have access to two-way services on the Web via Common Gateway Interface (CGI) applications. CGI is a standard interface for running external programs on a Web server. It allows Web servers to create documents dynamically when the server receives a request from the Web browser. When the Web server receives a request for a document, the Web server dynamically executes the appropriate CGI script and transmits the output of the execution back to the requesting Web browser. This interaction can thus be termed a “two-way” transaction. It is a severely limited transaction, however, because each CGI application is customized for a particular type of application or service.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, user 100 may access bank 150's Web server and attempt to perform transactions on checking account 152 and to make a payment on loan account 154. In order for user 100 to access checking account 152 and loan account 154 on the Web, CGI application scripts must be created for each account, as illustrated in FIG. 1B. The bank thus has to create individual scripts for each of its services to offer users access to these services. User 100 can then interact in a limited fashion with these individual applications. Creating and managing individual CGI scripts for each service is not a viable solution for merchants with a large number of services.
As the Web expands and electronic commerce becomes more desirable, the need increases for robust, real-time, bi-directional transactional capabilities on the Web. A true real-time, bi-directional transaction would allow a user to connect to a variety of services on the Web, and perform real-time transactions on those services. For example, although user 100 can browse car dealer Web page 105 today, the user cannot purchase the car, negotiate a car loan or perform other types of real-time, two-way transactions that he can perform with a live salesperson at the car dealership. Ideally, user 100 in FIG. 1A would be able to access car dealer Web page 105, select specific transactions that he desires to perform, such as purchase a car, and perform the purchase in real-time, with two-way interaction capabilities. CGI applications provide user 100 with a limited ability for two-way interaction with car dealer Web page 105, but due to the lack of interaction and management between the car dealer and the bank, he will not be able to obtain a loan and complete the purchase of the car via a CGI application. The ability to complete robust real-time, two-way transactions is thus not truly available on the Web today.